Discussion: There is no male or female brain

Littleknownfacts · 2019-01-02T23:55:08+00:00

"This means that, averaged across many people, sex differences in brain structure do exist, but an individual brain is likely to be just that: individual, with a mix of features. “There are not two types of brain,” says Joel."

I don't think anyone is saying that there are only two types of brains and you either have a male or female brain. Most people I've seen say "men tend to think about things in this pattern probably due to structural differences and women are more likely to think about things that way for the same reasons". Which is exactly what the article says.

Atlas_B_Shruggin · 2019-01-02T23:56:43+00:00

There doesnt have to be a specifically separate structurally Male or female brain. Different hormone levels effect every aspect of us irrespective of this

RP says that male and female humans (and mammals) have different sexual natures. "male" and "Female" brain is an AGP transgender argument

Mr_Smoogs · 2019-01-03T00:11:04+00:00

It’s been well known for a few years now that the brain is a mosaic of male and female traits with more similarities than differences. It becomes more apparent at the extremes though. So for instance, the 97th percentile of analytical or violent people will be almost all made up of men.

Males and females still have different hormones too. And in every mammalian species, the males and females have different mating strategies. So to suggest that humans don’t or to imply that they have the same strategies is absurd.

Tedesche · 2019-01-03T00:26:12+00:00

Not really sure the article supports your point. What the study found was that there are average differences between the brains of men and women, it’s just that they aren’t so consistent that we can firmly say “men’s hippocampus is this size, and women’s that,” etc.

To my knowledge, TRP doesn’t claim that men’s and women’s brains are consistently biologically different in this way, it just claims that men and women tend to think differently, to which this study actually lends support.

curiouskiwicat · 2019-01-03T01:10:46+00:00

There are two claims made about male and female brains that sound the same superficially but are actually very different. One is true, and one is false:

1) "There is something distinct about male and female brains which you can always reliably use to tell the difference between male and female brains". In this perspective, brains are like genitals - women generally have vaginas and men generally have penises and most of the time you can tell a man from a woman if you can see which genitals they have. But the brain is not like that, as the researcher's research shows. This perspective is false.

2) "The average male brain is different to the average female brain". In this perspective, brains aren't like genitals - they're more like body fat ratio. Women on average have a higher body fat ratio but there's plenty of overlap between men and women. The article doesn't say anything about findings, but you can read other reports from equally reputable popular science magazines that describe differences in average brains of men and women that do exist - see https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-something-unique-about-the-transgender-brain/ . This perspective is true, and it's important we acknowledge that.

As the article points out, this is quite important for the science of gender identity. Assigned-male-at-birth transgender women have brains that are more similar to cis women's brains than cis men's brains are. Likewise, assigned-female-at-birth transgender men have brains more like cis men than cis women do.

EDIT: Like 5 people have said what I said above, but there's one thing y'all missed that's worth pointing out. People talk like "brain structure" means "innate" and if it's not in "brain structure" it must be nuture not nature. Both are false. Brain structure changes and develops over time, in response to life experiences and stimuli, drugs, hormones etc, so "nuture" can affect brain structure. Similarly, there could very well be innate differences in men and women that aren't in brain structure. For instance, the balance of various hormones might affect thought processes and behavior in ways that don't affect brain structure. Or, just like men and womens' bodies become more different as adults than as children (body hair in different places, for just one), brains might start off similar and then get more different as they get older, just because of what the genes tell them about how to develop.

bitter_samsara · 2019-01-02T23:55:31+00:00

I would say no implications for the redpill ideology. It's an expression. The female brain is referred to as different wiring from men (a result of imprinting, conditioning, or learning) rather than physiology.

AutoModerator · 2019-01-02T23:47:48+00:00

Attention!

You can post off topic/jokes/puns as a comment to this Automoderator message.
For "CMV" and "Question for X" Threads: Parent comments that aren't from the target group will be removed, along with their child replies.
If you want to agree with OP instead of challenging their view or if the question is not targeted at you, post it as an answer to this comment.
OP you can choose your own flair according to these guidelines., just press Flair under your post!

Thanks for your cooperation and enjoy the discussion!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

toronto87 · 2019-01-02T23:52:05+00:00

I wonder if the changes are caused by different hormones being present at different quantities beginning sometime after birth.

whitetrashcarl · 2019-01-03T00:37:36+00:00

Uh most of redpill theory of male vs female behavior isn’t based around a biologically different brain at birth, it’s based on lifelong exposure to different internal conditions (hormones) and external conditions (how people treat you)

peterlongc · 2019-01-03T01:26:51+00:00

i'm sorry but there are almost no implications at all to this line of thought.

some women are taller than some other men; ok

some are more muscular than some men: ok.

on and on... there are always exceptions to the rule

diffdedbed · 2019-01-03T01:40:39+00:00

I think with a lifetime of being with women and men, there are definitely sex differences in the brain, though some women are more male like in their thinking and some men more female like.

Men and women even have different writing styles which can be detected, and its not like I was taught to write differently in school.

I think there is a real desire to show men and women are somehow the same mentally and its just not so. Why is interesting, if its hormonal during development wouldn't surprise me at all, but lets not fool ourselves.

Uncommon_Sensed_1234 · 2019-01-02T23:53:16+00:00

Brains might be the same but I believe the hormonal driving forces effects the same brain rendering it different in observational choices.

IamRain88 · 2019-01-03T00:19:48+00:00

I don't think this goes completely against red pill theory, because I don't think the belief is that men and women's brains are anatomically different. It's more the fact that women are more susceptible to hormonal swings and that society teaches little boys to act one way and little girls a different way.

Elektribe · 2019-01-03T07:38:19+00:00

I'm of the belief there is due to studies presented relating to transgender. If they turn out incorrect and men and female brains are the same... then I have a real issue with transgender identification because that inherently implies it is literally a mental illness and deception that needs treatment not inherent support, because there's no "biological condition" creating it. It's a social construct.

However, if there is actually a physiological reason for them to "feel like the other gender" then, they should get support because, that's just how they are. They aren't sick, deceptive, etc... they're misunderstood.

That doesn't mean that there isn't some middle ground between the two or that having male/female brains is defacto gender essentialism with no social constructs. AFAIK, there are physical male/female differences, not suggesting that everything is entirely different. Just slight operational differences that nudge biases one way or another and that combined with social construction leads to things like stereotyping behavior etc...

That is, even if most of our machinery is so very similar, slightly different physical reactions can cause very different behavioral outputs to the same inputs.

Also the entire key portion you missed from that article.

sex differences in brain structure do exist, but an individual brain is likely to be just that: individual, with a mix of features.

IE, yes female and male brains do exist, but on a spectrum definition as most things in life tend to be. It's sort of like saying gay or straight people don't exist because most people lie somewhere on a bisexual spectrum not "purely" on one side or another. But just having some attributes doesn't entirely pull you out of being in one region on average as an individual.

blackedoutfast · 2019-01-04T00:17:00+00:00

the idea that there are distinct "male" and "female" brains has always been nothing more than the tranny version of shitty broscience.

jenovajunkie · 2019-01-03T01:38:14+00:00

If there is no male and female brain, let's just force men and women to switch fields.

End this dumb dispute.

meivanlee · 2019-01-04T01:02:05+00:00

I don’t think the “brains” are different ... I do think woman have diff hormones / cycles etc that could make it come of that way..

internet Rp’ers tale theory a bit to far hence their “AWALT” concepts ..

circlingldn · 2019-01-04T21:35:41+00:00

Using new scientist as a source is a small step down from using jezebel as a source

Title	Discussion: There is no male or female brain
Author	TriadFamilyTimes
Upvotes	8
Comments	86
Date	January 2, 2019 11:47 PM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/abzcy7/discussion_there_is_no_male_or_female_brain/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/discussion-there-is-no-male-or-female-brain.258061 https://theredarchive.com/post/258061

Comments